Air cleaner and method of controlling operation of same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11852369-B2
Application number	US-202117389903-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2021
Priority date	Aug 6, 2020
Publication date	Dec 26, 2023
Grant date	Dec 26, 2023

Abstract

An air cleaner is provided that includes: a body housing having an air inlet and a filter discharge outlet; a fan module provided within the body housing; a filter supply module provided within the body housing and configured to provide a filter sheet; a filter transportation module configured to transport the filter sheet from the filter supply module such that the filter sheet passes by the air inlet and is discharged at the filter discharge outlet; and a cutting module configured to cut the filter sheet. The filter transportation module includes: a drive supply roller and a driven supply roller; drive and driven discharge rollers that are positioned a distance apart toward the filter discharge sides, respectively, of the two supply rollers; a first roller drive motor configured to drive the drive supply roller; and a second roller drive motor configured to drive the drive discharge roller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air cleaner, comprising:
a body housing having an air inlet and a filter discharge outlet;
a fan module provided within the body housing and configured to be driven such that air is provided through the air inlet;
a filter supply module provided within the body housing and configured to provide a filter sheet;
a filter transportation module configured to transport the filter sheet from the filter supply module such that the filter sheet passes by the air inlet and is discharged at the filter discharge outlet; and
a cutting module configured to cut the filter sheet transported by the filter transportation module, wherein the filter transportation module comprises:
a drive supply roller and a driven supply roller that are arranged to face each other with the filter sheet between the drive supply roller and the driven supply roller, and the drive supply roller and the driven supply roller are configured to maintain contact with the filter sheet or to transport the filter sheet;
a drive discharge roller and a driven discharge roller that are positioned a distance apart from the drove supply roller and the driven supply roller, respectively, that are arranged to face each other with the filter sheet between the drive discharge roller and the driven discharge roller, and that the drive supply roller and the driven supply roller are configured to maintain contact with the filter sheet or to transport the filter sheet;
a first roller drive motor configured to drive the drive supply roller; and
a second roller drive motor configured to drive the drive discharge roller, and the cutting module is positioned between the drive supply rollers and the drive discharge rollers.

2. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the body housing comprises:
a body portion configured to dispose the drive supply roller and the drive discharge roller; and
an upper covering portion configured to dispose the driven supply roller and the driven discharge roller.

3. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein:
the air inlet is disposed at a front surface of the body housing,
a filter outlet disposed below the air inlet at the front surface of the body housing, and the filter outlet is configured to allow the filter sheet to be moved out,
a filter inlet disposed above the air inlet at the front surface of the body housing, and the filter inlet is configured to allow the filter sheet to be inserted into the body housing, and
the supply rollers and the discharge rollers are arranged a distance apart in a backward-forward direction behind the filter inlet.

4. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the filter supply module comprises:
a sheet-winding roller having both end portions to be rotatably provided within the body housing, and the filter sheet is configured to be wound around the sheet-winding roller.

5. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the filter supply module is disposed below the air inlet.

6. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the driven supply roller is engaged with the drive supply roller with the filter sheet provided between the driven supply roller and the drive supply roller, and the driven supply roller is configured to be rotated together with the drive supply roller by rotation thereof.

7. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the driven discharge roller is disposed to face the drive discharge roller with the filter sheet provided between the driven discharge roller and the drive supply roller, and the driven discharge roller is configured to be rotated together with the drive discharge roller by rotation thereof.

8. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein at least one roller of the driven supply roller and the driven discharge roller is configured to elastically move upward and downward by an elastic member.

9. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the first roller drive motor and the second roller drive motor are configured such that the first roller drive motor is individually operable from the second roller drive motor.

10. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the filter transportation module is disposed above the air inlet.

11. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the filter transportation module is configured to include an upper guide plate that faces a lower guide plate, and the filter sheet is configured to pass between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate.

12. The air cleaner of claim 11 , wherein a portion of the drive supply roller is to pass through a first roller through-hole at the lower guide plate and is exposed in an upward direction from the lower guide plate, and a portion of the drive discharge roller is to pass through a second roller through-hole at the lower guide plate and is exposed in the upward direction from the lower guide plate, and
a portion of the driven supply roller is to pass through a first roller through-hole at the upper guide plate and is exposed in a downward direction from the upper guide plate, and a portion of the driven discharge roller is to pass through a second roller through-hole at the upper guide plate and is exposed in the downward direction from the upper guide plate.

13. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein a concave-convex portion is disposed on an external circumferential surface of the drive supply roller, and the concave-convex portion is configured to maintain contact with the filter sheet.

14. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the drive supply roller comprises:
a first roller portion having a concave-convex portion provided thereon; and
a second roller portion in which a concave-convex portion is not provided thereon.

15. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the cutting module is disposed more adjacent to the drive supply roller than to the drive discharge roller.

16. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the cutting module comprises:
a cutter configured to cut the filter sheet; and
a cutter moving unit configured to move the cutter from a first lateral end of one section of the filter sheet up to a second lateral end thereof, the first lateral section of the filter sheet is to pass through the two supply rollers and the two discharge rollers.

17. The air cleaner of claim 1 , further comprising:
a controller configured to:
control operation of each of the filter transportation module and the cutting module,
control operation of the drive discharge roller and the drive supply roller at a same time and thus transport the filter sheet;
control operation of the drive discharge roller and thus pull the filter sheet in a state where the drive supply roller is stopped when the filter sheet is transported;
control operation of the cutting module and thus cut the filter sheet in a state where the filter sheet is to be pulled; and
control operation of the drive discharge roller and thus discharge a cut-off section of the filter sheet.

18. The air cleaner of claim 1 , wherein opposite end portions of at least one specific roller of the filter transportation module are rotatably supported on a roller housing,
a first rotation center shaft and a first rotation center hole, which are rotation centers of the specific roller, are provided at a position where a first end portion of the specific roller and the roller housing correspond to each other,
a second rotation center shaft and a second rotation center hole, which are the rotation centers of the specific roller, are provided at a position where a second end portion of the specific roller and the roller housing correspond to each other, and
a shaft assembly including a movable body is provided on the second end

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Lee Deuk Won
• Oh Min Kyu
• Kim Dae Woong
• Kwon Bo An
• No Yang Hwan
• Cha Hyun Byung
• Park Byung Hoon
• Jo Yu Na
• Lee Ji Hye

Classifications

• F24F13/082 Primary

  Grilles, registers or guards · CPC title

• F24F8/108

  using dry filter elements · CPC title

• F24F13/20

  Casings or covers · CPC title

• F24F13/28

  Arrangement or mounting of filters · CPC title

• B01D46/00

  Filters or filtering processes specially modified for separating dispersed particles from gases or vapours (filtering elements B01D24/00-B01D35/00; filtering material B01D39/00; their regeneration outside the filters B01D41/00) · CPC title